Legacy of the Revolution - Gameplay Thread (Turn 2 - 1803)

[Devout Centrist]

Imperial Notification regarding Disputed Matters in the North

Dated: 5th of February, 1803 A.D.

Sovereign Members of the Empire:

The Emperor's special diplomatic envoy regarding the resolution of disputed activity in the northern domains of the Empire has concluded successfully. We have avoided all hostilities and ensured that all members may exercise the rights bestowed upon them by ancient privilege and Imperial contenance. We thank all interested parties for peacefully and fully resolving the disputed matter.

This notification, signed in the Schloss Schönbrunn, on the 5th of February, Anno Domini 1803

X Franz II

[Devout Centrist]

Easter Proclamation - 10 April 1803

Decree of the Sovereign:

Subjects,

Today we celebrate the most sacred mystery at the heart of holy Christendom: the resurrection of the Lord of Lords and the ultimate revelation of his glory before all heavenly and mortal hosts. The promise found in the consubstantial resurrection of the Christ has its author in boundless charity and everlasting love of the Lord God. We exhort all subjects of the Realm to join in prayer, brothers and sisters alike, for the salvation and prosperity of the faithful.

With most solemn humility and graciousness of open hearts, we reaffirm our commitment to the supreme virtue and temporal rights of holy Mother Church, the fruits of the spiritual foundation laid by St. Peter in Christ’s name. In audience of the eyes of Western Christendom, we proclaim our faith in the Christ and reverence for his earthly representatives. We also pray for our brothers in Christ, in East and West, whose supplications may yet be heard by our Lord Jesus Christ with special intercession from Holy Mother Mary.

We pledge ourselves to defend this most holy institution from all that threaten its integrity and propriety. Let it be known that His Imperial Majesty shall remain steadfast in his defense of the Catholic faith.

Further, His Imperial Majesty reverently renews his solemn commitment to defend the divinely ordained rights of the virtuous ennobled estate of the realm, and to protect the constitutional privileges of all noble estates and their individual constituents throughout the Realm.

This proclamation, signed in view of joint delegations of the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and the Archduchy of Austria, at the steps of St. Stephen's Cathedral on the 10th of April, Anno Domini 1803

X Franz II

[Devout Centrist]

Treaty of Munich

Preamble:

The Hapsburg Monarchy enters into a binding treaty of friendship with the Electorate of Bavaria, a sovereignty which has exemplified itself as a valorous defender of Imperial virtue and Catholic piety. The Hapsburg Monarch and German-Roman Emperor commends his Highness Prince-Elector Maximilian Joseph IV for his strong leadership and boundless devotion to the welfare of the people of his realm.

Article I: Imperial Compensation and Settlement

I. The Electorate of Bavaria shall receive substantial compensation for recent expropriations in Imperial territories and incomes lost in the past decade. This compensation shall be rendered in the form of various territorial acquisitions, including the assumption of Bavarian control of applicable free cities and bishoporics that are dually recognized by the Hapsburg Monarch.

Article II: Commercial Rights

I. The Hapsburg Monarchy grants the Electorate of Bavaria the right to conduct business and trade within its territories. This right shall include the establishment of Bavarian trade missions, offices, and warehouses.

II. Bavarian goods imported into Hapsburg territories or services provided by Bavarian subjects shall be subject to no customs duties.

III. Goods produced in or that pass in transit through the crown lands of the Hapsburg Monarchy shall not be subject to customs duties from the Electorate of Bavarian

Article III: Non-Aggression Pact

I. The Hapsburg Monarchy and the Electorate of Bavaria hereby agree to a non-aggression pact. Both parties pledge not to engage in any hostile actions, including but not limited to military attacks, invasions, or support for third-party hostilities against one another.

II. This non-aggression pact shall remain in effect for a period of ten years from the date of ratification of this treaty. It may be extended by mutual agreement of both parties.

Article IV: Ratification and Implementation

I. This treaty shall be ratified by both parties in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.

II. The treaty shall enter into force on the date of the exchange of the instruments of ratification.

X Kaiser Franz II

[King Saul]

Treaty of Munich

Preamble:

The Hapsburg Monarchy enters into a binding treaty of friendship with the Electorate of Bavaria, a sovereignty which has exemplified itself as a valorous defender of Imperial virtue and Catholic piety. The Hapsburg Monarch and German-Roman Emperor commends his Highness Prince-Elector Maximilian Joseph IV for his strong leadership and boundless devotion to the welfare of the people of his realm.

Article I: Imperial Compensation and Settlement

I. The Electorate of Bavaria shall receive substantial compensation for recent expropriations in Imperial territories and incomes lost in the past decade. This compensation shall be rendered in the form of various territorial acquisitions, including the assumption of Bavarian control of applicable free cities and bishoporics that are dually recognized by the Hapsburg Monarch.

Article II: Commercial Rights

I. The Hapsburg Monarchy grants the Electorate of Bavaria the right to conduct business and trade within its territories. This right shall include the establishment of Bavarian trade missions, offices, and warehouses.

II. Bavarian goods imported into Hapsburg territories or services provided by Bavarian subjects shall be subject to no customs duties.

III. Goods produced in or that pass in transit through the crown lands of the Hapsburg Monarchy shall not be subject to customs duties from the Electorate of Bavarian

Article III: Non-Aggression Pact

I. The Hapsburg Monarchy and the Electorate of Bavaria hereby agree to a non-aggression pact. Both parties pledge not to engage in any hostile actions, including but not limited to military attacks, invasions, or support for third-party hostilities against one another.

II. This non-aggression pact shall remain in effect for a period of ten years from the date of ratification of this treaty. It may be extended by mutual agreement of both parties.

Article IV: Ratification and Implementation

I. This treaty shall be ratified by both parties in accordance with their respective constitutional processes.

II. The treaty shall enter into force on the date of the exchange of the instruments of ratification.

X Kaiser Franz II

X Prince-Elector Maximilian Joseph IV

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Due to relief in tensions, Sweden demobilizes

[Lumine]

Mid-1803 News

The Oxenstierna and Gustav Vasa arrive on New Zealand,
Wikimedia Commons

An Age of Discovery

Swedish Expedition lands in New Zealand, establishes settlement,
French explorers trek across the Louisiana, reach Pacific Ocean by sea,
Chinese court receives second ever European embassy, results unclear

Having looked inward until recently, a trend only occasionally broken by seafaring expeditions like those of Cook and Laperouse; Europe seems to have awoken to the possibilities - and risks - of looking outward to the rest of the world, a trend seemingly accelerated by the onset of the Peace of Amiens and, perhaps, through Bonaparte's imperial adventures in Africa and the Caribbean. Although the issue of colonization as a whole remains controversial due to its sheer expenses and comparatively lower returns minus exceptions (such as Portugal and the Batavian Republic), it seems clear that the appetite for discovery has returned to some governments and courts.

Just as the Holy Roman Empire seemingly stood on the brink of war, news reached Stockholm from the Far East that an expedition sent by Gustav IV last year had successfully reached its destination. According to the limited reports issued thus far, a Swedish armada led by the flagships Oxenstierna and Gustav Vasa landed on a bay that natives called Whangaroa, and that the Swedish admiral baptized as Gjallarhorn Bay. Scores of native canoes and small vessels from the local Maori tribes ventured out to receive the Europeans, a first encounter that proved promising. Further rumors suggest that some sort of treaty has been signed between the Swedish Vice Admiral Salomon von Rajalin and Chief Pokaia of the Ngapuhi. What the contents of the deal are, however, is a matter for speculation given the distances involved and lack of reliable details.

In America proper, the resumption of French governance over the vast Louisiana territory has not gone without accomplishments. Under orders from Paris to organize a major expedition to cross the territory and explore its resources, Acting Prefect Pierre-Clement de Laussat set to the task, entrusting General Jean Humbert - on loan from Saint Domingue - to lead the effort with the half-French, half-Shawnee George Drouillard as his civilian interpreter and scout. Departing Saint Louis last year, Humbert made a point of dispersing his units to cover more ground, making a number of important discoveries and having multiple encounters - most of them negative - with local Indians before reaching the Rocky Mountains. There Humbert all but ignored Laussat's instructions, picking a small team to move forward "for the Glory of France".

Having then disappeared into the mountain rage with Drouillard and some 30 men, Laussat feared he might have heard the last of the brutish General. Alas, separate reports by one Spanish and one Russian merchant vessel state that contact was established with Humbert and his detachment of the coast of Oregon, showing that the expedition had managed to reach the Pacific Ocean in an unprecedented and unforeseen ordeal. It remains to be seen, however, whether Humbert's accomplishment may lead to an actual claim being staked on the Pacific Northwest region, with its distance, logistical issues, and lack of accurate information preventing other regional powers like Britain, Spain or Russia from establishing a permanent presence.

And, in a final accomplishment for Europe, news from the East suggest that a historic development has taken place in Qing China. Following the somewhat successful British Macartney Embassy of 1793, European traders in Singapore report that, after a difficult and likely exhausting trip, French officer and diplomat Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt reached Shanghai with an embassy in tow, fully intending to reach Beijing and repeat the fear achieved by Lord Macartney. Although details are sketchy, it is generally agreed that Caulaincourt reached the Chinese capital aided by surviving French Jesuit missionaries, and after weeks of waiting held a ceremony with the Jiaqing Emperor in which the French diplomat, so British sailors claim and mock him for it, performed the kowtow ritual.

What the Emperor and Caulaincourt discussed remains unclear, there only being hints that the meeting was amicable. Whichever the result, it is nonetheless a remarkable development given the still secretive nature of China for most of Europe.

Holkar fires the opening shot of the Maratha Civil War
Wikimedia Commons

India at war!

Maratha Confederacy explodes in civil war,
Holkar defeats Daulat and Baji Rao in the battlefield,
Will the Confederacy turn anti British?

The death of Tipu Sultan and the collapse of the Sultanate of Mysore had left the East India Company (EIC) as one of the two major powers across the Indian subcontinent, albeit divided between zones under direct control in Madras and Bengal; and friendly vassal princes, chief among them Nizam Ali and his vast domains in Hyderabad. The other power was the increasingly unstable Maratha Confederacy, a British ally of convenience during the Mysore wars, and under nominal rule by its Peshwa, Baji Rao II, but more accurately under the domain of powerful princes and maharajas vying for influence and prestige. Lord Mornington, the Governor of British India, kept a careful eye over such developments, as well as over the recently returned French ports in the region as a result of Amiens.

As news reach Europe with a bothersome delay, it appears that the political struggle within the Maratha Confederacy finally exploded in open warfare. Yashwantrao Holkar, a young, daring and markedly anti-British Maharaja, decided to strike against the Peshwa and other princes opposed to his growing influence, including fellow Maharaja Daulat Rao. Despite attempts by Holkar to ally with the also anti-British Daulat, talks between both men collapsed amidst growing discord and mistrust. Holkar therefore marched against his nominal lord and his rival for power, defeating Daulat on the battlefield at Ujjain and forcing him to flee east into the arms of other princes and away from his ancestral lands.

Holkar then drew fire on the Peshwa, encircling and annihilating his lord's army at the Battle of Poona. Captured in battle, Baji Rao refused to surrender the Confederacy itself to Holkar, a political standoff that led the rebel prince to depose his stubborn foe and replace him with the more pliable Amrut Rao, adopted brother to Baji Rao. In the aftermath of the battles of Ujjain and Poona, Holkar finds himself in a domineering position, soon to march and absorb Baji Rao's loyalist provinces in the south of the Confederacy before dealing with the feeling Daulat. The East India Company sits uneasily, both profiting immensely from Maratha disunity while having the uncomfortable position of not having a side to appeal to given Daulat and Holkar's profiles. And just as the EIC and Lord Mornington watch the situation evolve, so do the smaller Dutch, Portuguese and French ports.

[Devout Centrist]

Hauptschluss der außerordentlichen Reichsdeputation

Dated: 27th of April, 1803 A.D.

We, his imperial majesty Francis II, by the grace of God elected Roman Emperor, hereby announce the principle conclusions of the Imperial Recess of 1803 with regards to the settlement of certain territorial and remunitive compensation for states affected by the conclusion of previous conflicts in the Rhineland and other states of the western German Imperial domains. This settlement, negotiated in good faith by representatives of all affected states, shall provide compensation to the following member states and/or electors:

Substantial Compensation in Free City and/or Bishophoric Acquisition
--The Electorate of Bavaria
--The Margraviate of Baden (henceforth elevated to the Electorate of Baden)
--The Electorate of Saxony
--The Duchy of Wurttemberg (henceforth elevated to the Electorate of Wurttemberg)
--The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (henceforth elevated to the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel)

Further, the German-Roman Emperor authorizes the creation of a Transrhenanische Sustentationskommission to provide compensation to and to adjudicate claims arising from eligible noblemen who have lost territory in recent Imperial conflicts.

This decree, signed in the Schloss Schönbrunn, on the 27th of April, Anno Domini 1803

X Franz II

[Senator Spiral]

Treaty of Konigsberg

The French Republic and the Kingdom of Prussia hereby agree to the following:

1. The Kingdom of Prussia shall declare war on the rogue regime in Saint Domingue, joining the Franco-American alliance with a commitment of 10,000 troops.

2. Prussian forces shall receive assistance in naval transport from the allied network during the duration of this campaign.

3. The Kingdom of Prussia shall purchase the territory of Guiana from the French Republic, for a total sales price of 70 million francs. The sale and transfer is to promptly take effect.

X First Consul for Life Napoleon Bonaparte, French Republic

[GoTfan]

Treaty of Konigsberg

The French Republic and the Kingdom of Prussia hereby agree to the following:

1. The Kingdom of Prussia shall declare war on the rogue regime in Saint Domingue, joining the Franco-American alliance with a commitment of 10,000 troops.

2. Prussian forces shall receive assistance in naval transport from the allied network during the duration of this campaign.

3. The Kingdom of Prussia shall purchase the territory of Guiana from the French Republic, for a total sales price of 70 million francs. The sale and transfer is to promptly take effect.

X First Consul for Life Napoleon Bonaparte, French Republic

X Frederick William, King of Prussia.